Kamogawa Genji
Genji Kamogawa (鴨川 源二,'' lit. Kamogawa Genji'') is a deuteragonist in Hajime no Ippo. His influence on the story rivals those of Takamura Mamoru's and Miyata Ichirou's; all three inspire Makunouchi Ippo to continue boxing. He is a retired boxer who founded the Kamogawa Boxing Gym. He acts as the trainer of both Ippo and Takamura, as well as a cornerman for the boxers under Shinoda Tomoyuki. His surname is Kamogawa. In Japan, surnames are listed before given names. Background Kamogawa worked as a prizefighter in Japan shortly after the end of the Second World War. He has exchanged blows with former prizefighter Nekota Ginpachi multiple times. He was also friends with fellow prizefighter and future trainer Hama Dankichi. During the American occupation of Japan, Kamogawa harboured strong feelings of national pride, refusing to accept food handouts. Kamogawa witnessed American sergeant Ralph Anderson easily defeat Hama in an exhibition match. After Hama's loss, Anderson terrorized the population and chased Yuki into the alleys. Here, Kamogawa experienced the power of American boxing first-hand as he and Nekota were beaten up by Anderson while protecting Yuki. After seeing Anderson's clinical jabs and being hit by a Cross Counter, Kamogawa acknowledged that American boxing was at least a hundred years ahead of Japanese prizefighting. It was also here that he encountered Miguel Zale, a soldier and second to Anderson. During this time, Yuki and Nekota moved into Kamogawa's makeshift home. Yuki looked after the pair while they trained, inspired by their commitment to rebuilding the country through their fighting spirit. However, Kamogawa discovered that Yuki was a survivor from Hiroshima, who was dying from radiation poisoning. Although Kamogawa's pride was hurt, he was aware of the gap between Japanese prizefighting and American boxing, and declined to challenge Anderson on the basis that true boxers fight against their own weight division, and as a bantamweight, Kamogawa was no match for Anderson. However, Nekota secretly arranged a fight with Anderson. Kamogawa furiously rushed to the match after realizing Nekota had been brain-damaged after their last fight together. Despite Nekota's superior speed, he was crippled by an illegal Rabbit Punch and was severely beaten before Kamogawa interfered and stopped the match. Swearing to avenge Nekota, Kamogawa trained by punching a log into an embankment, honing his fists into a deadly weapon. In the match against Anderson, Kamogawa was outclassed and unable to land a clean hit. Through the strength of his spirit and Nekota's desperate encouragement, Kamogawa absorbs Anderson's chopping right and lands two deadly body blows, breaking his ribs and puncturing his internal organs. Despite defeating Ralph, Kamogawa broke both his fists in the process, which ended his career thereafter. With Nekota retreating to his mountain home to recover, Kamogawa put aside the feelings between himself and Yuki and dedicated his life to passing on his passion for boxing. Sometime later, Kamogawa opened his own boxing gym, where he trained the future manager of the gym Yagi, the then-OPBF Featherweight champion Miyata-san, and the budding counter specialist Miyata Ichirou. By chance, he encountered Takamura Mamoru and convinced him to enter the world of boxing under his tutorship. Takamura then scouted Aoki Masaru, Kimura Tatsuya, and Makunouchi Ippo to the gym. History Ippo's Pro Debut After meeting Ippo, Kamogawa was skeptical about the idea of him becoming a professional, due to his appearance and attitude. In order to conclude what his chances were, he decided to have him spar against boxing prodigy Miyata. During the spar, Ippo went down several times and was unable to land a single hit on Miyata before losing via knockout. However, his durability, stamina and determination, earned Kamogawa's respect and a membership to his gym. Kamogawa decided to supervise Ippo's training personally (which he did for no one other than Takamura) and announced that he would have a rematch against Miyata. During the months leading up to the rematch, Kamogawa taught Ippo how to perform an uppercut, and put him through intensive training in order to directly face the counter instead of avoiding it. In an attempt to have both aspiring boxers motivated, he instigated a rivalry between them, by constantly making comments about Ippo's growth. Kamogawa is Ippo's second on his second spar with Miyata. After Ippo won, Kamogawa had to hide his excitement. Kamogawa is impressed after receiving a picture of Ippo hitting the tip of Miyata's jaw from Fujii Minoru. Makunouchi Ippo vs Oda Yusuke Prior to Ippo's pro debut, Kamogawa ordered him to train with Takamura in order to understand the hardships of the sport. In the match against Oda Yusuke, Kamogawa avoided a doctor stoppage by applying ice and lotion to Ippo's cut allowing him to continue the fight which he ultimately won via knockout. Coaching It is revealed that he seeks to raise a world champion whose boxing is principled on fighting spirit, not just talent or skill. He is repeatedly proud of Takamura and Ippo, though he rarely expresses it, but it is Ippo he regards as his "last son". He has thrown in the towel or forfeited the match only twice, and outside of that loss, his boxers have won every last one of their combined 47 matches. Though he chose not to train Itagaki Manabu, he is present in his matches as a cornerman. He is equally as surprised at Itagaki's speed and boxing skills as he is at the talents of his own trainees. Match History Kamogawa officially fought against Ralph Anderson. Though winning by KO, he broke both of his fists to the point of ending his career thereafter by overusing the Tekken, or Iron Fist technique. It is also mentioned that Kamogawa had multiple boxing matches against Nekota Ginpachi as a prizefighter, two of which he lost, two of which he won, and another that ended a draw, though he insists that he won the last one. Appearance Seen primarily in his twilight years, Kamogawa is partially bald with grey hair residing on the sides of his head, as well as at a small tuft above his forehead. His age also leaves him often walking with a wooden cane that he is often seen beating the students of his gym with when they misbehave. In his youth, Kamogawa sported messy, dark-brown, hair and a muscular physique. He also had a very rigid face structure, with a bulky isometric nose and large eye-brows. This refined jawline is less prevalent in his older years Personality Kamogawa is fairly stoic and introspective character, rarely displaying his emotions outwardly. He is deeply passionate about boxing as a sport and takes great pride in his boxers success. Despite this, he is quite quick to anger when his students perform outlandishly, primarily disciplining his disciples with his cane (mainly Takamura). He is a prudish man who does not tolerate indecency and debauchery, as shown with how he constantly bludgeons Takamura whenever he steps out of line. Fighting Style Not much is known about Kamogawa's prior fighting style other than his weight class and his natural in-fighting tendencies. It is implied by Nekota that he used both an orthodox and southpaw style, as he said to Genji: "Your right cross hasn't faded at all," then told Ippo: "If I didn't look into his eyes, I would've taken his left cross." He invented Tekken, a destructive body blow which leaves an imprint of a fist behind. He possesses a stubborn and unyielding fighting spirit, which he seeks to pass down to a successor in the hopes of challenging the world. Techniques *Uppercut *Tekken *Counter Gallery Mitt work..jpeg|Coach doing mitt work with Ippo. Kak1.jpeg|Coach teaching Ippo the uppercut. Kak3.jpeg|Coach in the manga. Kak2.jpeg|Kawogawa Genji. Kak4.jpeg|Young Kamogawa. Ippo and Kamogawa.jpg|Makunouchi Ippo and (young)Kamogawa Genji on the season 3 intro Kamogawa courage.jpg|Kamogawa's courage kamogawa2_bg.gif|Young Kamogawa BFF.jpg|'BFF'|link=ippo.wikia.com kamogawa.gif|genji|link=ippo.wikia.com KamogawaCoachTraining1166.png|Kamogawa performs mitt training with swinging logs in the wilderness. Quotes *''"I expected someone who could become a pro because you recruited him, but what is that? I don't feel any fighting spirit!"'' - To Takamura the first time Ippo joined the gym *''"Not everyone who works hard is rewarded. But! All those who succeed have worked hard!"'' - To Takamura before his fight with Bryan Hawk Trivia *Despite being very knowledgeable about boxing and having years of experience with different techniques and styles, Kamogawa believes that "techniques are nothing against strength"Hajime no Ippo chapter 5, page 13. *As of Chapter 1012, Kamogawa is still able to do mitts hitting with Ippo and Takamura consecutively at his old age. References Category:Male characters Category:Characters from Japan Category:Kamogawa Boxing Gym Category:Bantamweights Category:In Fighters Category:Post-War Prize Fighters Category:Retired boxers Category:Trainers Category:Boxers Category:Characters Category:100% Wins by KOs